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June-July 2008
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ALUMNI PROFILE |
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Triathlete Goes the Distance... and Then Some “Everybody’s got a favorite racing story,” says Charlie Riesz, SPA/BA ’82, SPA/MPA ’83. His involves the 2004 Columbia (Md.) Triathlon, when he had just finished the first segment of the race, swimming. “For some reason, a bunch of us had had Thai noodles the night before,” he says. “I came out of Centennial Lake, and there was this narrow grassy path to get to your bike; people were all lined up cheering. I think the combination of the cold water and the swimming… I just lost my dinner from the night before in front of everyone.” Though Riesz laughs at the memory of his public “oops,” it’s clear he’s proud of his accomplishments, and he’s perfectly serious about the reason he was there in the first place. He signed up for this – and many other races – to celebrate life, including his own, as a lymphoma survivor. “I was diagnosed in August 1999 and done [treatment] around April 2000,” he says. “For a couple years I didn’t even want to hear the word cancer, then it was just one of those things, where one day I got a flyer in the mail, saying, ‘you can train for a marathon’ and raise money for the same kind of cancer I had. It seemed like a win-win.” Three marathons, nine half marathons, a half ironman, five Olympic distance triathlons, and more 10-milers, 10ks, and 5ks than he can count later, Riesz has no intention of stopping anytime soon. “I hope to do the Columbia Triathlon with my wife when we’re 75,” he says, noting that they just celebrated their 20-year anniversary. Many of the races Riesz has trained for and completed benefit the Team in Training, or TNT. Riesz estimates he has raised more than $15,000 for the organization, not to mention the wonderful friends he has made. “To be able to give back to the organization that has played such an important role in my life, my family’s lives, and many others is really something,” says Riesz. “In my own small way, to try to make it possible for other families like mine to come out of the darkness of a cancer diagnoses on the other side and get to experience all the richness that life has to offer means a lot to me. I am so grateful for both the people who did TNT years ago and those who do it today.” Regardless of what race distance he's doing or town it’s in, Riesz has his priorities straight. Want to form an AU TNT team? Riesz would love to help and invites anyone interested to contact him at chazmania@verizon.net.
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